Fall Card Swap

Wow, September has been a busy month! Comic Con, birthdays, traveling with family, and school starting up again (for my husband -- I'm done, thank goodness). September also involved my first ever "Cards in the Mail" swap with some fellow stampers. I'm SO excited to show you all the fun cards I've gotten, so here we go!

 

Aren't they fantastic?! I love seeing all the great projects that my fellow stamp addicts come up with. Check back on Tuesday for our "Fall Fun Blog Hop" to see the card I made for the swap (and, of course, the other awesome projects by the ladies in the swap).

ANNOUNCEMENT: I'm holding a Halloween Banner class on Saturday, October 12. We'll be making an adorable "BOO" banner that's perfect for decorating this Fall season. Class is $15 per person; deadline to sign up is Friday October 4. Contact me to sign up today!

What fun fall projects are you planning? 

PS: Sorry for the short, image-heavy post today. Next week should have more posts from me, including one about my costume-making experience for Salt Lake Comic Con (yup, I'm that much of a nerd).

Sending Sympathy

Hello again! Sorry for falling off the face of the planet the last couple weeks! There has been so much going on outside of my stamping life, and sadly that meant that blogging had to take a back burner for a while. But I'm back now! And hopefully there won't be any other long absences like that again.

The card I'm sharing today was made with the RetroSketches layout, and I really like how it turned out! Making the card was a bit sad, though, as it is a sympathy card for a dear friend going through some really hard things right now. (If you're reading this, friend, know that you're in my prayers!) But the card turned out gorgeous, and I'm going to focus on the positives here. Let's get on with it, shall we?

The gorgeous flower and greeting came from a great new Hostess set in the brand-spanking new catalog (see it over there in the sidebar? Go check it out!) That little strip of DSP? Yeah, that's also new, and I'm loving it. The Old Olive ribbon coordinated perfectly with this card, and the subtle clear-embossed leaves in the background give the Very Vanilla cardstock that touch of something special without overwhelming the true focus of the card - Heartfelt Sympathy.

As I mentioned before, this layout came courtesy of the lovely ladies over at RetroSketches - go check out their challenges! This one was RS-68.

May Day Blog Hop! (And SUO 69!)

Welcome to our May Day Blog Hop! Take a hop through and see all of the fun May Day projects we've come up with for you. As always, please hop all the way through. Comments and pins are always appreciated. Enjoy!

Today, I wanted to show off one of my FAVORITE new stamp sets. You'll get to see this gorgeous set in the upcoming catalog, and I just can't wait until all of you can use it with me! To me, May means birthdays. My family has at least 6 birthdays in May, and so I wanted to create fun, happy, special cards with specific people in mind. So here's what I've come up with.

I made this 3x3 card last, but it's absolutely my favorite! I love how you can create
your own "DSP" look in the background by lining up the stamps!

Since these adorable little 3x3 cards can't be mailed, this mosaic card is for one of my dear friends here in the Provo area. It's such a perfect little pick-me-up card! The students here at BYU have just finished finals, so I think I'll send this as a "Welcome to summer!" note for a friend.


This next one might be my favorite. It's so hard to choose, though -- it's like picking a favorite kid!

This one was CASE'd from a card by Illina Crouse,
and I'm totally in love with the details of it! 

"Today calls for something pink with sprinkles on top!" The saying on this card absolutely, positively reminded me of one person in particular - my old roommate and best friend, April. She LOVES everything pink and sparkly! Which is just fantastic, since she's expecting a little baby girl this summer! This may just turn out to be her baby shower card. (But shhh! Don't tell her!)

If the SUO Challenge I entered (see below for details) only lets me enter one card, it's this one! It's my favorite of the three -- if I really, really had to choose.



Next up, a colorful variation!

This one was a total mess until my dear husband suggested the
dimensional gray flowers at the bottom. Perfect touch!!

And this card is most likely destined to be a thank-you card for a friend of mine. I have so many great friends to be thankful for, so it's going to be hard to choose! I guess I'll just have to make more!

Card Details:

All of these cards were made with the Mosaic Madness stamp set, the coordinating punch and Textured Impressions Embossing Folder, and just a few colors - Basic Gray, Pretty in Pink, Silver Glimmer Paper (or embossing powder), and Very Vanilla.

Since 2 of the 3 cards I made used the Textured Impressions Embossing Folder for the Big Shot (both Sizzix products, sold by SU), I've decided to enter these cards in the SUO Challenge this week! Their challenge, SUO69, features ANY Sizzix product, and you should go check out the fun entries there!

Thank you so much for stopping by! I hope you enjoyed my creations.

New things are coming!

Yesterday, I spent ALL DAY at a huge Stampin' Up! regional event. (You can read more about it over on SU owner/founder Shelli Gardner's blog.) It was a blast!! My first-ever SU event -- what a great day.

Along with 400 other demonstrators, I got to see (and play with!) some new products that are coming out in this year's upcoming catalog. I also got to see the new catalog!

Guys.

It's awesome.

Seriously.

I'm really stinking excited to show it to you! So many fun new products and accessories and colors!


. . .


. . .


But sadly, I can't show it to you quite yet. I will soon -- literally as soon as I am legally allowed to post about it, the new stuff will be featured on this blog within minutes. I promise! Okay? Okay.

So to tide you over, here's a quick video about something you can buy soon: new cases for our wood-mount stamps! Because I don't know about you, but I'd sure love more stackable cases for my collection of wood stamps.

I love all the other fun things they show using the cases for -- lunch boxes, punch storage, projects to-go, and tons more! Available for purchase May 31. (And PS: this video may or may not give you a sneak peek of a fun new stamp set that is coming soon -- so keep an eye out for that!)

Sale-a-Bration!

It's time for Stampin' Up!'s BIGGEST promotion of the year! Sale-a-Bration starts tomorrow, January 22, 2013.  And there are three amazing ways to PARTY during this annual celebration!

At your party, you'll get to:

• create fun, beautiful projects to show off to your friends (or on Pinterest)
• earn fabulous freebies
• enjoy time with friends

Once you have gathered your friends, you will:

• get a free pack of Silver Glimmer Paper AND $25 hostess dollars! (with a qualifying party order)

If you invite even MORE friends:

• get free pack of Silver Glimmer Paper AND $65 hostess spending dollars AND free Sale-A-Bration product bundle AND 50% off any full priced item! (with a qualifying party order)

Do you have a wish list?  If not, go here to get one started!

• For EVERY $50 you spend, you receive one FREE product from the Sale-A-Bration catalog!

What you'll get when you join my SU! team during SAB:

• 25% more free product in your COMPLETELY customizable kit.  (That means $156.50 worth of product for on $99!)
• 20% off all product -- all the time!
• Access to Stampin' Success -- the exclusive Demonstrator magazine
• Opportunity to pre-order items before they are released to the public.

LETS GET THIS PARTY STARTED! 

Contact me today to host, shop, or join!

Paper Pumpkin -- Your personal "Fairy Creativity Godmother"

Introducing Paper Pumpkin

Starting Monday, January 14th: Paper Pumpkin comes to your door each month (a fully decked-out creativity carriage) that will help you to escape your life with some paper fun. It comes in a sweet box, but you'll really love what you find on the inside: All the stamps, ink, paper, and accessories to create fun, Pin-able projects. Create things like cards, journals, decor,  and more! Paper Pumpkin by Stampin' Up! is a new monthly kit program that anyone (even you) can enjoy!

 It's so easy to get started.   

A Paper Pumpkin membership is $19.95 per month (and shipping is included!).Simply sign up for the program starting Monday, January 14 by visiting www.mypaperpumpkin.com (or click on the button in my sidebar) and click Get it. Every month, a new surprise project kit arrives at your doorstep. Just think of the anticipation of creating a fun project to pin, showoff, and share with your friends and family every month! You're automatically set up on an auto-renew system, but you can cancel or even just skip a month at any time.

Contact me, Michelle Stoll, if you have any questions, and don't forget to choose me as your demonstrator!